Are you drowning in trend-driven kitchen gadgets you don't actually use?

The Advertiser

18-07-2025

If your kitchen cupboards are more scrambled than last night's eggs, turns out you're probably not alone.
New research reveals that Australians have accumulated a truckload of expensive and useless kitchen gadgets, cluttering our drawers, gathering dust and turning dinner prep into a game of utensil hide and seek.
Not only are we wasting money, but we're also adding stress and losing precious time. The culprit? An over-the-top foodie culture and trend-driven tools that promise time-saving magic, but often deliver clutter and regret.
Commissioned by meal delivery service EveryPlate, nearly 75 per cent of people participating in the survey own between 10 and 20 gadgets.
Almost a third said some of these have been left untouched for more than a year, and 90 per cent admitted to using the same three or four items over and over again - sound familiar?
Coined the spice rack effect, 36 per cent of those surveyed buy a kitchen gadget, use it once, then never again, with 43 per cent admitting to wasting between $100 and $200 on cooking contraptions they don't use.
Sixty per cent reported to having a kitchen junk drawer, where unused tools are mercilessly dumped.
What are the top kitchen one-hit-wonders? An egg yolk separator came in at number one (51 per cent), followed closely by the avocado pitter (50 per cent), then the spiraliser (47 per cent, electric salt and pepper grinders (40 per cent), garlic crushers (23 per cent) and even the time-honoured food processor (22 per cent).
To help Aussie households cut through the chaos and bring dinnertime back down to earth, home cook and clutter realist, Mel Buttle shares her top five tips for simplifying your kitchen.
1. Ditch one-hit wonders
They overpromise, underdeliver, and take up way too much space for something that gets used once a year (if that). If it requires a tutorial and a deep clean after every use, it's not a time-saver - it's a shelf hog. Let it go.
2. Back to basics
You don't need an army of appliances to make dinner. Just a solid knife, a chopping board, tongs, and a pot. Maybe a peeler if you're feeling fancy. These are the tools that pull their weight - no flashing lights, no USB charger, no risk of accidentally grating your knuckle.
3. Six-month rule
If it hasn't been used in six months, it's not a gadget - it's a squatter. That pasta maker you bought during your 'Viva Italia' phase? It's not on a break, it's done. Gift it to a retiree with time for that stuff, give it to the op shop, or the local kindy, but it does need to rack off.
4. Viral? Think twice
Wondering if your drawer is full of irrational viral flings? Try this: pick your top three go-to recipes and write down the tools you actually use. You'll likely find the same handful popping up every time, and that's your lineup. Did the electric egg cracker make the cut? No? Shocking. If you won it from a magazine, if you got it from a supermarket for collecting stamps, or got it from a $10 work secret Santa, it may not be worthy of the cupboard space, alongside legends like the chopping board, frypan and butcher's knife.
5. The re-buy rule
Here's a task for you to help decide if it's earned its place on the used once and never again metaphoric spice rack; the 'Would I buy again?' test. Line up all those kitchen gadgets gathering dust and perform a merciless cull. Be honest with yourself, is that corn peeler really going to need replacing? If the answer is no, it's time to say, toodle-oo.
If your kitchen cupboards are more scrambled than last night's eggs, turns out you're probably not alone.
New research reveals that Australians have accumulated a truckload of expensive and useless kitchen gadgets, cluttering our drawers, gathering dust and turning dinner prep into a game of utensil hide and seek.
Not only are we wasting money, but we're also adding stress and losing precious time. The culprit? An over-the-top foodie culture and trend-driven tools that promise time-saving magic, but often deliver clutter and regret.
Commissioned by meal delivery service EveryPlate, nearly 75 per cent of people participating in the survey own between 10 and 20 gadgets.
Almost a third said some of these have been left untouched for more than a year, and 90 per cent admitted to using the same three or four items over and over again - sound familiar?
Coined the spice rack effect, 36 per cent of those surveyed buy a kitchen gadget, use it once, then never again, with 43 per cent admitting to wasting between $100 and $200 on cooking contraptions they don't use.
Sixty per cent reported to having a kitchen junk drawer, where unused tools are mercilessly dumped.
What are the top kitchen one-hit-wonders? An egg yolk separator came in at number one (51 per cent), followed closely by the avocado pitter (50 per cent), then the spiraliser (47 per cent, electric salt and pepper grinders (40 per cent), garlic crushers (23 per cent) and even the time-honoured food processor (22 per cent).
To help Aussie households cut through the chaos and bring dinnertime back down to earth, home cook and clutter realist, Mel Buttle shares her top five tips for simplifying your kitchen.
1. Ditch one-hit wonders
They overpromise, underdeliver, and take up way too much space for something that gets used once a year (if that). If it requires a tutorial and a deep clean after every use, it's not a time-saver - it's a shelf hog. Let it go.
2. Back to basics
You don't need an army of appliances to make dinner. Just a solid knife, a chopping board, tongs, and a pot. Maybe a peeler if you're feeling fancy. These are the tools that pull their weight - no flashing lights, no USB charger, no risk of accidentally grating your knuckle.
3. Six-month rule
If it hasn't been used in six months, it's not a gadget - it's a squatter. That pasta maker you bought during your 'Viva Italia' phase? It's not on a break, it's done. Gift it to a retiree with time for that stuff, give it to the op shop, or the local kindy, but it does need to rack off.
4. Viral? Think twice
Wondering if your drawer is full of irrational viral flings? Try this: pick your top three go-to recipes and write down the tools you actually use. You'll likely find the same handful popping up every time, and that's your lineup. Did the electric egg cracker make the cut? No? Shocking. If you won it from a magazine, if you got it from a supermarket for collecting stamps, or got it from a $10 work secret Santa, it may not be worthy of the cupboard space, alongside legends like the chopping board, frypan and butcher's knife.
5. The re-buy rule
Here's a task for you to help decide if it's earned its place on the used once and never again metaphoric spice rack; the 'Would I buy again?' test. Line up all those kitchen gadgets gathering dust and perform a merciless cull. Be honest with yourself, is that corn peeler really going to need replacing? If the answer is no, it's time to say, toodle-oo.
If your kitchen cupboards are more scrambled than last night's eggs, turns out you're probably not alone.
New research reveals that Australians have accumulated a truckload of expensive and useless kitchen gadgets, cluttering our drawers, gathering dust and turning dinner prep into a game of utensil hide and seek.
Not only are we wasting money, but we're also adding stress and losing precious time. The culprit? An over-the-top foodie culture and trend-driven tools that promise time-saving magic, but often deliver clutter and regret.
Commissioned by meal delivery service EveryPlate, nearly 75 per cent of people participating in the survey own between 10 and 20 gadgets.
Almost a third said some of these have been left untouched for more than a year, and 90 per cent admitted to using the same three or four items over and over again - sound familiar?
Coined the spice rack effect, 36 per cent of those surveyed buy a kitchen gadget, use it once, then never again, with 43 per cent admitting to wasting between $100 and $200 on cooking contraptions they don't use.
Sixty per cent reported to having a kitchen junk drawer, where unused tools are mercilessly dumped.
What are the top kitchen one-hit-wonders? An egg yolk separator came in at number one (51 per cent), followed closely by the avocado pitter (50 per cent), then the spiraliser (47 per cent, electric salt and pepper grinders (40 per cent), garlic crushers (23 per cent) and even the time-honoured food processor (22 per cent).
To help Aussie households cut through the chaos and bring dinnertime back down to earth, home cook and clutter realist, Mel Buttle shares her top five tips for simplifying your kitchen.
1. Ditch one-hit wonders
They overpromise, underdeliver, and take up way too much space for something that gets used once a year (if that). If it requires a tutorial and a deep clean after every use, it's not a time-saver - it's a shelf hog. Let it go.
2. Back to basics
You don't need an army of appliances to make dinner. Just a solid knife, a chopping board, tongs, and a pot. Maybe a peeler if you're feeling fancy. These are the tools that pull their weight - no flashing lights, no USB charger, no risk of accidentally grating your knuckle.
3. Six-month rule
If it hasn't been used in six months, it's not a gadget - it's a squatter. That pasta maker you bought during your 'Viva Italia' phase? It's not on a break, it's done. Gift it to a retiree with time for that stuff, give it to the op shop, or the local kindy, but it does need to rack off.
4. Viral? Think twice
Wondering if your drawer is full of irrational viral flings? Try this: pick your top three go-to recipes and write down the tools you actually use. You'll likely find the same handful popping up every time, and that's your lineup. Did the electric egg cracker make the cut? No? Shocking. If you won it from a magazine, if you got it from a supermarket for collecting stamps, or got it from a $10 work secret Santa, it may not be worthy of the cupboard space, alongside legends like the chopping board, frypan and butcher's knife.
5. The re-buy rule
Here's a task for you to help decide if it's earned its place on the used once and never again metaphoric spice rack; the 'Would I buy again?' test. Line up all those kitchen gadgets gathering dust and perform a merciless cull. Be honest with yourself, is that corn peeler really going to need replacing? If the answer is no, it's time to say, toodle-oo.
If your kitchen cupboards are more scrambled than last night's eggs, turns out you're probably not alone.
New research reveals that Australians have accumulated a truckload of expensive and useless kitchen gadgets, cluttering our drawers, gathering dust and turning dinner prep into a game of utensil hide and seek.
Not only are we wasting money, but we're also adding stress and losing precious time. The culprit? An over-the-top foodie culture and trend-driven tools that promise time-saving magic, but often deliver clutter and regret.
Commissioned by meal delivery service EveryPlate, nearly 75 per cent of people participating in the survey own between 10 and 20 gadgets.
Almost a third said some of these have been left untouched for more than a year, and 90 per cent admitted to using the same three or four items over and over again - sound familiar?
Coined the spice rack effect, 36 per cent of those surveyed buy a kitchen gadget, use it once, then never again, with 43 per cent admitting to wasting between $100 and $200 on cooking contraptions they don't use.
Sixty per cent reported to having a kitchen junk drawer, where unused tools are mercilessly dumped.
What are the top kitchen one-hit-wonders? An egg yolk separator came in at number one (51 per cent), followed closely by the avocado pitter (50 per cent), then the spiraliser (47 per cent, electric salt and pepper grinders (40 per cent), garlic crushers (23 per cent) and even the time-honoured food processor (22 per cent).
To help Aussie households cut through the chaos and bring dinnertime back down to earth, home cook and clutter realist, Mel Buttle shares her top five tips for simplifying your kitchen.
1. Ditch one-hit wonders
They overpromise, underdeliver, and take up way too much space for something that gets used once a year (if that). If it requires a tutorial and a deep clean after every use, it's not a time-saver - it's a shelf hog. Let it go.
2. Back to basics
You don't need an army of appliances to make dinner. Just a solid knife, a chopping board, tongs, and a pot. Maybe a peeler if you're feeling fancy. These are the tools that pull their weight - no flashing lights, no USB charger, no risk of accidentally grating your knuckle.
3. Six-month rule
If it hasn't been used in six months, it's not a gadget - it's a squatter. That pasta maker you bought during your 'Viva Italia' phase? It's not on a break, it's done. Gift it to a retiree with time for that stuff, give it to the op shop, or the local kindy, but it does need to rack off.
4. Viral? Think twice
Wondering if your drawer is full of irrational viral flings? Try this: pick your top three go-to recipes and write down the tools you actually use. You'll likely find the same handful popping up every time, and that's your lineup. Did the electric egg cracker make the cut? No? Shocking. If you won it from a magazine, if you got it from a supermarket for collecting stamps, or got it from a $10 work secret Santa, it may not be worthy of the cupboard space, alongside legends like the chopping board, frypan and butcher's knife.
5. The re-buy rule
Here's a task for you to help decide if it's earned its place on the used once and never again metaphoric spice rack; the 'Would I buy again?' test. Line up all those kitchen gadgets gathering dust and perform a merciless cull. Be honest with yourself, is that corn peeler really going to need replacing? If the answer is no, it's time to say, toodle-oo.